Porn stars
- The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
- Vancouver band bares it all in their latest effort, a tasty slice of indie pie.
- Buy it on Amazon
- Download it at iTunes
The New Pornographers’ Carl Newman must be a cool guy to get drunk with in a bar.
Judging by the way he experiments with his music – employing an ever-growing lineup of talented musicians and a bevy of instruments ranging from guitars to pump organs and e-bows – I bet there’s not a pick-up line he hasn’t used, or wouldn’t at least consider. And if you’ve ever been around this type of personality, you know how interesting it can be, successful or not.
Twin Cinema, an impressive mélange of quirky songwriting and unusual musical arrangements and harmonies, is The New Pornographers’ latest CD and Newman’s grandest figurative attempt at picking up the hottest babe in the joint.
Luckily for him (and us), he scores.
From the first few jarring Primus-esque guitar riffs of the title track, I was sold. So I went sampling at iTunes to find out what this band was all about. After all, I had heard very little from them until Philly’s WXPN began giving the song some regular airtime, and my interest was piqued.
Oddly enough, the rest of Twin Cinema sounds nothing really like, well, “Twin Cinema.” More deeply layered than your typical rock album and anchored by a wave of endearing ‘60s surf and psychedelic influences, most of the clips I heard were appealing but in a strange sort of way. Despite my better judgment, I slapped down a 10-spot and bought the album anyway.
For the most part, this is a pretty solid effort from a band that obviously likes to take a fair amount of chances with their music, usually a big no-no in my book. I’ve always maintained that experimentation, though essential to a group’s growth and staying power, is better in small doses. But the Pornographers, like the nerdy, Ritalin-addicted junior high school kid that just discovered test tubes and Bunsen burners, seem dead-set on having the best chemistry set on the block. And they’re close.
Though flawed and, at times, a little boring, Twin Cinema is an ambitious and fun record that should be listened to multiple times in order to fully appreciate all the complexities and nuances that went into making it. That’s not to say you won’t be hooked on the first listen. In fact, there are enough memorable choruses on this album to make even Irving Berlin’s ghost jealous. And if they don’t suck you in, the rhythms will.
Just try listening to “Star Bodies” for proof of the former (For you there’s not any warning!), or the album’s best song, “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” for decadently addictive, yet simple, rhythms. Other winners on the record include “Streets of Fire,” a syrupy sweet acoustic/techno ditty with more flavors than Baskin-Robins, and “Use It,” my choice for best scathing lyric of the year (Heads down, thumbs up, two sips from the cup of human kindness and I’m shit-faced).
Of course, any review is incomplete if it does not weigh the good with the bad, and Twin Cinema is not without its shortcomings. “Three or Four” and “Broken Breads” fail to deliver anything memorable, while “The Bones of an Idol” is excruciatingly boring. And on a few of the female vocal leads, the sound kind of wavers between relentlessly indie and drugged-up, retro-‘60s Grace Slick. Not sure that’s a good thing.
Though I was apprehensive at first, Twin Cinema has been a pleasant surprise and a welcome addition to my music collection. Just hope head Pornographer Carl Crawford doesn’t run out of pick-up lines any time soon.
December 20th, 2005 at 9:06 am
[…] My infatuation with Porn — the band, The New Pornographers, that is — has been growing by leaps and bounds since I reviewed their latest album, Twin Cinema, earlier this month. At the time I reviewed it I had not had time to fully digest just how good this album is, and if I had to rate it today I’d probably drop an extra star on it. One tune, however, stood out from the very beginning and I knew it was a keeper. […]